By Gretchen Wehmhoff

Commercial property owners in Skagway may see a staggering increase. 

 In a letter to Borough Manager Brad Ryan, assessor James Canary presented that a gross overall increase to commercial property values in the historic downtown Skagway area will be up approximately 50%.

Alaska State Stature 29.45.110(a) instructs that the Assessor shall assess property at its full and true value as of Jan. 1 of the assessment year.

Canary took on the role of Assessor in January 2020.  He originally noted that “commercial property values were undervalued based on sales information.”

“In 2020 I valued residential properties in the downtown market area with the intention of updating the commercial property valuations the following year,” Canary writes.

The Assessorss office acknowledges that there were unexpected economic changes due to the 2020 – 2021 COVID-19 pandemic. It was decided by the State Assessor’s office to wait for things to settle out. Now, with time allowing for economic recovery, they Assessor determined it was time to update the commercial values.

Canary said he visited each commercial property in the downtown area, inspecting, remeasuring and talking to owners and renters. 

When assessment notices arrive, owners will have 30 days to appeal the new valuations, based on “unequal, excessive, improper or under valuation based on facts.

Canary says he plans to be available for onsite reviews.

Assemblymember Orion Hanson said at the April 18 meeting that he has heard from a number of business owners and building owners in historic district concerned about the increasing property taxes.

“I want to say for the record, we have kept the same mill rate, what changed is that the real property sales have gone up by a lot,” Hanson said.

Hanson reminded the room that during the pandemic that the MOS did not change the formula.

 “We kind of kept that static for a while. But it is not a formula that we manipulated; it’s based on state statute. And it’s been the same mill rate for a very, very long time. The difference is that the properties in the downtown area in particular, are selling for a lot more money,” Hanson explained.

“No one likes seeing your taxes jumped through the roof. But it didn’t come because we manipulated the process in anyway. And I just want to make that clear,”

Any change in the local mil rate will impact the tax amounts.